Nursing Home In Chiswick Gets Care Warning

Care Quality Commission finds substandard treatment of elderly

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has issued a warning to a local nursing home after an unannounced inspection found that the home failed to ensure the dignity and privacy of its residents.

The warning was issued to Ganymede Care Ltd, the operators of the Chiswick Nursing Centre in Ravenscourt Gardens, following an inspection last month. The inspection also found that the home failed to involve residents in decisions about their care.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC), the independant regulator of health and social care, has now issued a formal warning to Ganymede Care Limited that it must make urgent improvements at the nursing home. Inspectors would visit again in the near future and if progress was not being made, the CQC would not hesitate to use its legal powers to protect the elderly residents, the Commission stated.

Inspectors found that people were being led back to their chairs if they attempted to move round the home while one person could not make private phone calls as their phone did not work, and several others bedroom doors could not be closed.

They also found that information about food and personal care preferences was missing in a number of care plans.People living in the home told inspectors that they had not been involved in their care planning process and there was no evidence that their families were either.

Matthew Trainer, deputy director of CQC in London, said: “All of us deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and where CQC finds evidence that care staff are not treating people in the right way, we will take action.

"The standards we set exist to protect vulnerable people, who cannot always speak up for themselves, being put at risk of harm.

“Our inspectors will return in the near future to carry out another inspection. If we find that the home is not making the required progress we won’t hesitate to use our legal powers further to protect the people who live there.”

Inspectors were concerned about the following issues;

  • Some people living in the home told inspectors that they had not been involved in the care planning process, and the plans themselves did not evidence the involvement of those people or their families.
  • Information about food and personal care preferences was missing in a number of care plans.
  • The privacy of people in the home was not respected. One person was unable to make private telephone calls because the phone in their room did not work, while another resident’s bedroom door could not be closed. Inspectors observed people being led back to their chairs if they attempted to move around in the home.
  • There was a lack of engagement between staff and people living in the home, and a lack of positive interaction.

This inspection took place as part of a national programme looking at dignity and nutrition for older people living in care homes. A full report on the national inspection programme will be published in the autumn.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the independent regulator of health and social care in England. It makes sure that care in hospitals, dental practices, ambulances, care homes, people’s own homes and elsewhere meets government standards of quality and safety

CQC can issue financial penalty notices and cautions or prosecute the provider for failing to meet essential standards.


August 24, 2012